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Title: Papa John's is surging after founder John Schnatter resigns from board and apologizes for using a racial slur
Source:
Business Insider
URL Source: http://markets.businessinsider.com/ ... -racial-slur-2018-7-1027362411
Published: Jul 12, 2018
Author: Graham Rapier
Post Date: 2018-07-12 11:20:30 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 11418
Comments: 63
Shares of Papa John's surged more than 10% Thursday morning following the resignation of founder and executive chairman John Schnatter, who on Wednesday apologized for using a racial slur on a May conference call with company executives and an outside marketing agency. "News reports attributing the use of inappropriate and hurtful language to me during a media training session regarding race are true," Schnatter said in a statement to Business Insider, alluding to Forbes' first reporting of the incident. "Regardless of the context, I apologize. Simply stated, racism has no place in our society." The Louisville, Kentucky-based pizza chain said in a press release that it would announce a new chairman in the coming weeks. "Our company was built on a foundation of mutual respect and acceptance," the company's apology said. "We take great pride in the diversity of the Papa John's family, though diversity and inclusion is an area where we will continue to strive to do better." Papa John's once generated annual revenue of more than $1.7 billion, but took a hit following the NFL controversy. Its stock plummeted 11% soon after an earnings call that addressed the scandal, according to Forbes. Schnatter resigned as CEO in January but remained on the board. Papa John's announced in late December that Schnatter would be stepping down as CEO and would be replaced by Steve Ritchie. However, Schnatter remained the chairman of the company's board. In March, Papa John's announced it had ended its sponsorship deal with the NFL after months of controversies and slumping sales. The next day, Pizza Hut announced that it was the new official pizza of the NFL. Schnatter has a history of making political statements that have sparked controversy. He came under fire in 2012 for saying the Affordable Care Act, the healthcare law better known as Obamacare, would be a "lose-lose" for Papa John's franchisees and employees. He has spoken out extensively against what he says is overregulation by the government. Papa Johns were down almost 14% this year through Wednesday
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 57.
#10. To: Deckard (#0)
(Edited)
All he did was repeat a quote. He wasn't calling anybody anything. BTW, other than that their pizza does suck.
I haven't been in the habit of buying pizzas in years and never had a Papa John's; I like pizza too much to degrade myself with most of the crap out there. One or two local joints do it pretty well, but I've taught myself how to make pretty much all the major styles, culminating with the Neapolitans once I finally got a wood-burning thousand-degree oven. Pizza heaven when a beautiful Margherita Napolitana comes out perfect in about 90 seconds. (not one of mine, but I can make 'em like this; it's surprisingly difficult to get the hang of the recipe and techniques, but not too hard once you do)
Pizza heaven when a beautiful Margherita Napolitana comes out perfect in about 90 seconds. Sweet! Now THAT is real pizza. Are you making fresh dough? Or buying it? I hope you use Pecorino Romano as your hard cheese to go along with your fresh Mozzarella. 90 seconds? How long does it take to get it up to 1000 degrees? And how cost effective?
Sweet! Now THAT is real pizza. Yes, indeed it is. It sort of freaks out family/friends who come over and try it, because it's so different from "regular" pizza. But absolutely everybody who tries it just loves it. Are you making fresh dough? Or buying it? Oh, of course! You can't buy Neapolitan dough unless there's an authentic pizzeria in the neighborhood willing to sell some. Even then, it has a peak "window" for baking, usually about 4 hours. You can cheat this a bit with refrigerated fermentation to save it for later, but that changes the characteristics of the dough which you need to allow for. You can't accelerate the process much, but it can be made about 8 hours in advance if you're willing to sacrifice some crust taste and texture (gotta let the yeastie bugs do their thing slowly for the best results). I make it from scratch 24 hours in advance, using Italian flour, Italian canned tomatoes, Italian basil and yeast. Soon, a sourdough culture made from Italian yeast (to fully develop crust flavors) instead of instant dry yeast, now that I have all the other variables under control. Flour, water, yeast, salt - that's it for the dough. Topping is raw San Marzano crushed tomatoes with salt and nothing else, plus fresh mozzarella and a few leaves of fresh basil I grow myself. A swirl of extra-virgin olive oil on top and that's it for a Margherita Napolitana. They are amazing pies; light, airy, just a little crispiness underneath and you can taste everything that goes into it. Rolling pins aren't allowed to leave the drawer when making my pizzas, by the way (they *may* reappear briefly when I start to learn Roman pizza, but we'll see). Took me months to master the dough recipe proportions, mixing, kneading and fermenting - made about 30 ok-pizzas and a dozen or so that went into the trash along the way before I made my first great pizza. Not many ingredients but many variables to get a feel for. But now I can repeat it pretty much every time, having kept careful notes along the way. It's actually pretty easy to do once you've got it right - just watch some of the pros on YouTube. I taught myself because I live in the woods and nobody else anywhere around is making these as far as I know, but there are a LOT of resources on the web - let me know if you want to get started down the road and I'll hook you up. PizzaMaking.com is a good place to start poking around, or search YouTube for "neapolitan". If you like pizza, you'll never go back once you get the hang of it. I hope you use Pecorino Romano as your hard cheese to go along with your fresh Mozzarella. Yes, or Parmesana Reggiano if I'm out of Pecorino, but I often forgo other cheeses or just forget to pull them out. :-) 90 seconds? How long does it take to get it up to 1000 degrees? And how cost effective? Depends on outside air temp and wind - can be done in 20 minutes, but I usually take 30-45 bringing it up a bit more slowly. Here's the inventor of my oven taking it from snow-covered to 932F in 20 minutes. I have never made a 60-second pie; my shortest time is 70 secs in a raging-hot oven start and 90 is my target for a "relaxing" amount of time. I keep a digital countdown timer from ThermoWorks around my neck to help with timing; you need to turn it 3 times within a minute; it's easy to lose focus and burn stuff at these temps. Very cost-effective, about $600 which is near the bottom of the price range for ovens that can get this hot and handle pies bigger than 13"; I start with about 10-12 charcoal briquettes in a Weber Junior chimney with a propane blowtorch from underneath to get them lit, then switch to alderwood once they get going. Can't get hot enough with just briquettes. It's cheap around here because I can see about a thousand trees from my house and many of them are alder. And to get a Neapolitan right, you MUST be over 800-850F at least to bake it fast enough (the dough recipe turns from pillow-soft to a cracker if baked too long) and you MUST have a live flame front over the top to finish the crust properly - either wood, lump charcoal or gas. I tried everything I could think of to get my previous propane pizza oven to make Neapolitan and it just won't do it because it lacks these two things. It makes great American-style pies, though, so I still have it as a backup or for when making a lot of pies for a larger group. I use an IR thermometer to manage the oven; for Neapolitan doughs the deck is 750-800F and the roof 950-1000F to get a 90-second Margherita. Other toppings on top of the cheese like meats, onions or mushrooms (2 toppings max, applied sparingly, on a Neapolitan; the crust is delicate) need slightly longer bakes (2 minutes or so), so I drop the temps 50-100F to prevent burning the top before the interior is cooked. My oven can do this easily in just a few minutes; the big domed masonry ovens not so much because of all the insulation and thermal mass, they're like big heat flywheels. Neapolitan dough does very poorly at temps below 800F and conversely NYC or other "conventional" doughs will burn above 750-800F, so I make completely different doughs and use different temps depending on what I'm making. How big or small is your wood-burning oven? (Is it designed for interior or exterior use?) I use an Uuni Pro, from Finland via Scotland and the USA - great, great oven. Uuni.net for all the deets. They have a smaller one, the Uuni 3, but it's a wood-pellet burner only and I like the versatility of the Pro, which is not only larger but can burn charcoal, wood and gas in addition to pellets. It can handle up to about a 16" pizza - Neapolitans are traditionally 13-14" and are designed to be a one-person serving, but of course can be passed around. In Italy they're served uncut with a knife and fork. No way it can be used indoors - at most in an open garage with the door up, but even then the exhaust is around 200F so you need to be careful. Definitely not in a kitchen - too much concentrated heat and it makes carbon monoxide from combustion. I think this is my longest ad hoc from-scratch posting on LF ever. And since I've run this thread way off the rails........ here's a gratuitous nigga. By the way, I don't keep cooking secrets so if you want my dough recipe PDF (developed for the Ankarsrum mixer, but should work for other heavy-duty machines) let me know in a PM with a place to drop it. You'll need to be patient with yourself; recipes are great starting points but you won't get it right until you try it a few times to develop technique and adjustments for your equipment, temp, humidity and handling. If you like to cook, it's a fun learning process with tremendous satisfaction when you finally nail it. Ciao, I gotta go make some dough for the weekend.
WOW. Can you imagine someone -- all they've known is Papa John's, Pizza Hut, local joints? Must be a trip watching your friends crunch into yours. THAT pizza -- is edible art. My favorite "art". The crust is magnificent. Such a painstakingly process. From the oven, to dough to San Marzano tomatoes (when anyone mentions "San Marzano", I *know* they're serious about food). Bookmarked/copy for future reference. Thanks for going into great detail on this Pizza Making passion. I appreciate reading about the process - my mouth watered as though I was there waiting for MINE ;-) Growing up in north NJ, I've had my share of excellent pies. And of course breads. But once you make pizza like this (or are fortunate enough to find a place that does the brick/wood-fired oven), there's really no going back. Compromise is hard. It's the same with quality like Hagen Daaz ice cream, Italian bakery items, fish caught nearby a wharf/fishing boat, prime steaks, farm-fresh fruit & veggies etc. (If you can find that Pecorino Romano, nail it.) Here's the inventor of my oven taking it from snow-covered to 932F in 20 minutes. I have never made a 60-second pie; my shortest time is 70 secs in a raging-hot oven start and 90 is my target for a "relaxing" amount of time. I keep a digital countdown timer from ThermoWorks around my neck to help with timing; you need to turn it 3 times within a minute; it's easy to lose focus and burn stuff at these temps. Very cost-effective, about $600 which is near the bottom of the price range for ovens that can get this hot and handle pies bigger than 13"...And to get a Neapolitan right, you MUST be over 800-850F at least to bake it fast enough (the dough recipe turns from pillow-soft to a cracker if baked too long) and you MUST have a live flame front over the top to finish the crust properly - either wood, lump charcoal or gas. Gotta have some versatility there. And it does. Man...you even hit it with a blow-torch? See? I learned something already. Now *I* certainly appreciate the fragility, factors, and care...but then it's all over in about 5 minutes. BUT...nothing like it. (As you witness from those you've made pizza for). Wish I had your patience. But...all artists do. Luckily I am within 30-40 minutes of Brick Oven/wood fired pizza here in Jersey. But even then, to lock down all those components -- oven temp, dough, olive oil and cheeses, garlic, the tomatoes....(and ya gotta have fresh basilco) is still rare even in these parts. As you point out, even if they are made in those "domes", sometime the crust is uneven. That's why I expect to pay $20+ for a smaller quality wood-fired/ brick pizza that's in that class of the real deal "Napolitan". IF we can find it. They're worth every penny. Btw, Margherita is my favorite as well. Simple in this case really is best. I think this is my longest ad hoc from-scratch posting on LF ever. And since I've run this thread way off the rails........ here's a gratuitous nigga. HA! By the way, I don't keep cooking secrets so if you want my dough recipe PDF (developed for the Ankarsrum mixer, but should work for other heavy-duty machines) let me know in a PM with a place to drop it. You'll need to be patient with yourself; recipes are great starting points but you won't get it right until you try it a few times to develop technique and adjustments for your equipment, temp, humidity and handling. If you like to cook, it's a fun learning process with tremendous satisfaction when you finally nail it. Ya know something? yeah, why not. Thanks. My son would also love this. HE might just go this entire route (I made him a connoisseur of certain things -- among them, pizza.) I can NOT tolerate cardboard crust. Especially not when the rest of the project and ingredients are A+. I'll have to work with what have as a mixer; As to oven, is there no other option than that beast you have? You mentioned: I got a problem here. Given all your experimenting in the lab, have you found any dough adjustment, any way to work with a convection oven at @500 degrees and still get somewhat a decent crust? I frequently will try different jarred sauces in these parts; many are quite good. If you get lazy and are in the mood for a NY/North Jersey "gravy", I've tried this one a couple time recently; Nice and oily. Very good, VERY "homemade" flavor that could have been made by Uncle Vito or Gramma. Consider the Marinara. I'd even toss this on a pizza -- it's that good: http://hobokenfarms.net/
I wouldn't be so quick to lump in "local joints" with mega chains like Pizza Hut & PJ's. The best pizza I've ever had was from locally owned, mom and pop operations. IMHO.
Yeah, sometimes you get lucky enough to have a joint that knows what it's doing. We have one guy in town (a baker by trade) whose newish restaurant turns out some very tasty pies with beautifully-charred and flavorful crusts - not full-on Neapolitan but absolutely excellent, and he does them at 725F in an electric deck. And he still makes phenomenal pies. I mean pie-pies, as in dessert. A good joint.
Sounds like some nice pay-dirt there. Yeah...luck is definitely involved. It takes a certain commitment and passion to make an exception pizza pie. But also the same of most food. Ingredients pricing and grading can vary wildly with tomatoes and cheese. And as Hank points out, the dough quality and ovens are no small details.
There are no replies to Comment # 57. End Trace Mode for Comment # 57.
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#13. To: no gnu taxes (#10)
(Edited)
BTW, other than that their pizza does suck.
#34. To: Hank Rearden, Chuck Wagon (#13)
One or two local joints do it pretty well, but I've taught myself how to make pretty much all the major styles, culminating with the Neapolitans once I finally got a wood-burning thousand-degree oven.
#38. To: Liberator (#34)
(Edited)
#49. To: Hank Rearden (#38)
I make it from scratch 24 hours in advance, using Italian flour, Italian canned tomatoes, Italian basil and yeast. Soon, a sourdough culture made from Italian yeast (to fully develop crust flavors) instead of instant dry yeast, now that I have all the other variables under control.
"Neapolitan dough does very poorly at temps below 800F and conversely NYC or other "conventional" doughs will burn above 750-800F, so I make completely different doughs and use different temps depending on what I'm making."
#53. To: Liberator, Hank Rearden (#49)
Can you imagine someone -- all they've known is Papa John's, Pizza Hut, local joints?
#55. To: Deckard (#53)
The best pizza I've ever had was from locally owned, mom and pop operations.
#57. To: Hank Rearden, Deckard (#55)
Yeah, sometimes you get lucky enough to have a joint that knows what it's doing. We have one guy in town (a baker by trade) whose newish restaurant turns out some very tasty pies with beautifully-charred and flavorful crusts - not full-on Neapolitan but absolutely excellent, and he does them at 725F in an electric deck.
Replies to Comment # 57.
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